#rebirthleadership #jencoaching #IdentityToImpact
A business owner I coach once told me:
“I want to be more confident talking with people. I want to connect better.”
So when I was invited to share my story at an event around the theme HOME WITHIN, I invited her too. “Come with me. Share your story.”
She smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
Later, she asked: “How many people will be there?”
I said. “Many.”
Then came more questions. “What if they ask who I am? They don’t know me. What if they don’t see me the way you see me?”
I said: “They don’t know one another either. And they may not know you yet. They will simply meet you.”
She paused. “Okay, I may come. But I won’t share my story. I’ll just listen.”
Listening was familiar.
Letting a room full of new people hear her story was not.
I smiled. “Okay. Let it unfold when you get there.”
And this situtation maybe familiar with many of us.
Not a lack of story.
Not a lack of ability.
A part of us trying to keep us inside what we already knew.
Our minds are very good at producing reasons not to enter the unfamiliar.
I’m not ready.
I don’t know these people.
Maybe next time.
We often call this the comfort zone.
I also think of it as:
the familiar zone.
What feels natural today may simply be what we have practised most.
And sometimes, our preferences become our ceiling.
So when ten reasons say don’t, we can add one more question:
AND WHAT IF I COULD DO IT?
Not:
Can I force myself to be brave?
But:
Does this belong to the person I am becoming?
If no, choose no.
But if yes—
the Protector does not need to disappear.
It can come with us.
The Self-Author chooses.
And the Courage takes the next step.
That is part of what NEXT LEADERS™ — Identity to Impact means to me.
Not becoming someone else.
Allowing more of who we are to live.
The Protector says:
Stay with what we know.
The Self-Author asks:
What do I choose?
The Courage whispers:
Let’s see what becomes possible.
……
The business owner decided to come.
That is already a beginning.
Before confidence becomes a voice, a stage, a relationship, or an impact—
sometimes it begins with one small:
“Okay. I am in.”
